Single shot drop breechblock rifle



y 1968 w. B. RUGER ETAL 3,382,597

SINGLE SHOT DROP BREECHBLOCK RTFLE Filed May 16, 1967 I v I I INVENTORSWILLIAM B. RUGER ATTORNEYS LAWRENCE LLARSON United States Patent3,382,597 SINGLE SHOT DROP BREECHBLOCK RIFLE William B. Ruger,Southport, and Lawrence L. Larson,

Bethany, Conn., assignors to Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc, Southport, Conn.,a corporation of Connecticut Continuation-in-part of application Ser.No. 550,214,

May 16, 1966. This application May 16, 1967, Ser.

3 Claims. (CI. 42-23) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relatesto single shot rifles having a drop breechblock, a hammer which operatesin a recess in the breechblock which strikes a pivoted intermediatemember which engages and drives the firing pin into contact with thecartridge primer.

RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation-in-part of patentapplication Ser. No. 550,214, filed May 16, 1966 of William B. Ruger andLawrence L. Larson, now Patent No. 3,355,833.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION (1) Field Of invention The invention is in thefield of single shot drop breechblock rifles and particularly deals withthe firing pin and associated operating mechanism.

(2) Prior art Relevant prior art is not known.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION This invention comprises a firing pin strikerpivoted to the breechblock which is struck by the hammer to engage aspring-biased firing pin. The striker is pivoted at a point above theaxes of the firing pin and is mounted between a limit stop and thefiring pin. The striker has a contactarea for the firing pin near thepivot axis and a longer depending part which is struck by the hammer.The resulting increased leverage and camming action of the hammer on thestriker minimizes separation of the striker from the firing pin duringfiring and also greatly increases the force available to hold the firingpin against the cartridge primer and prevent blowback of the primer cap.

hammer in cocked position, and FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1showing the hammer at firing impact.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The improvement on the rifle ofapplication Ser. No. 550,214 illustrated in the drawings comprises areceiver "Ice 1, a barrel 2, and a breechblock 3 which is movable (bymeans not shown) in the recess 4 in the receiver to the upward closedposition for firing shown in FIG. 1 and to a lower position (not shown)for ejection of the empty case and loading.

The breechblock has a recess 5 in which the striker 6 is pivotallymounted on the cross pin 7 in the breechblock. The striker is limited inits rearward movement by the limit plug 10 and has a cam-like nose 11engaging the headed end 12 of the firing pin 13 which is biased by thespring 14. The lower or depending part of the striker 6 has a curved orcam-like nose 20 and the cam-like nose 11 is intermediate the pin'7 andthe cam-like nose 20.

The hammer 15 is pivotally mounted on pin 16 in the.

receiver and is held in the cocked position shown in FIG. 1 by the sear17. The hammer is driven by the strut 18 and as shown in FIG. 2, thesear has released the hammer which was driven by the strut to strike thecam-like nose 20 of the striker by the sloping cam surface 21 of thehammer to drive the firing pin against the cartridge primer 22. Theforward motion of the firing pin is limited by the head 12 and theforward motion of the striker is limited by contact wtih the surface 23.As illustrated, the striker contacts surface 23 before the face of head12 contacts its stop shoulder 24. The construction and arrangement offiring components illustrated eflects a sliding or camming contact ofthe striker with the firing pin and also a sliding or camming contact ofthe'hammer with the striker with the result that at the finite andcritical moment of firing there is a relatively great mechanicaladavntage in the components holding the firing pin against the primer asshown in FIG. 2 which makes it possible to fire the large magnumcartridges or cartridges which generate high pressures without blowingthe firing pin rearward.

We claim.

1. The improvement in drop breechblock rifles which comprises a receiverhaving a hammer therein, a drop breechblock movable upward and downwardin the receiver, a firing pin in the breechblock, a striker pivotallymounted in the breechblock on a pin above the longitudinal axis of thefiring pin, the striker having a lower contact part which is struck bythe hammer, and an intermediate contact part on the striker between thepin and lower contact part which engages the firing pin.

2. The improvement in drop breechblock rifles defined in claim 1 inwhich the lower contact part has a cam-like nose and the hammer issloped to effect a camming action when contacting the cam-like nose.

3. The improvement in drop breechblock rifles defined in claim 1 inwhich the intermediate contact part has a cam-like nose which engagesthe firing pin to eflect a camming action on impact.

No references cited.

BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner.

